A Glorious October Hike

Yesterday there was a break from the cold wet weather. It was beautiful! The boys begged me to take them hiking, and I agreed. There's no better way to spend a day! I decided to fit Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 into the hike. So during our drive to our favorite local hiking spot, Platte River State Park, we talked about using ears to hear, eyes to see and hands to feel while we walked. We also talked about some of the things we might see, hear, or feel. They were very excited to get started.

The first sound we heard was chirping crickets. The loudest sound was crunching leaves as we walked over them. We also heard (and saw) a hot air balloon and two trains!
Benedict felt tree bark. Some was rough, some was really rough and some was smooth. He noticed that the tree with smooth bark was much smaller than the others and concluded that tree bark must get rougher as the trees grow bigger. Emanuel felt squishy mud under his shoes. He also got to feel something new and exciting. Under the leaves he found some soft, fuzzy green moss. Of course, they weren't just listening and feeling during our hike- they were using their eyes too. They saw many different trees and leaves, a daddy long legs, and of course, the hot air balloon.

For this hike, we decided to try a different trail than usual. We were so glad we did. It was beautiful! After hiking through the woods on a bluff above the Platte River, we descended the bluff and came out in a meadow filled with leaves! The boys rolled in the leaves and threw them at each other. It was a lot of fun! Then

we crossed a bridge and walked along the river and train tracks for a few hundred feet before heading back into the woods. We finally had to turn around and head back because the sun was setting, but none of us wanted to. It was such a beautiful day for a hike and a great location. We cannot wait to go back to explore this trail further! In the meantime, here are a few more pictures.

 

Nature Study

So, I've learned a lot in our first few weeks of "officially" homeschooling. We've scrapped the curriculum I bought (oh, they'll still use it, just not this year!) and have been doing a lot more hands on things. I've found that the "sit still" subjects (like phonics and religion) are best done in the car or at bedtime. They'll do anything to stay up a few minutes later! While Ben is feeling very proud of his reading accomplishments, thinks math is really fun, likes religion and enjoys his history projects, science is by far his favorite subject.

Since the weather is so great at this time of year, we've been doing nature study. We started (on Saturday) doing The Outdoor Hour Challenge from this blog and though we've only done challenge #1 so far, they loved it. We take short nature walks while talking about whatever catches their eye. The sounds of grasshoppers, tree roots sticking up from under the ground, an owl hooting at dusk. On our most recent walk (Monday) they studied milkweed. Emanuel discovered that the milky substance leaking from the pod made his hands smell like "cheesy milk" and Ben opened his to find flat brown seeds with long silky white hairs- that stuck to us because of the sticky milk substance on our fingers.

We also like to talk about the trees we see. They like oak trees a lot, mostly because of the acorns. We have a large acorn collection! So after Saturday's walk they drew pictures of oaks trees, their seeds and leaves in their science notebooks. They also collected some leaves to "make projects with," and are looking forward to seeing what color the oak leaves will change into as fall progresses. 

On Saturday, we took our nature walk at Fontenelle Forest. We walked down a few of the the trails, looking at the aforementioned oaks, ant colonies, fungus (they were really impressed by all the different fungus that grows on trees), and a leaf covered in little trails of slime, which my youngest sister Julie assured me was "glow-worm goo."   The trail we chose led us to the Missouri River, with which Ben, Emanuel and Julie were all very impressed. Julie made sure I took many pictures, because "everyone will want to see this!" Ben, who is very interested in Lewis and Clark, immediately cried, "Mom! This is it! This is Lewis and Clark's river! I can't believe we're actually here!" (He takes after me in a few areas, I think.) Then he proceeded to tell everyone around us about L&C and their great expedition. Emanuel climbed onto some rocks jutting from the bank and tried to stick his shoes in the water.
Both of the nature walks we've taken since beginning this nature study have been so much fun, and we can't wait for more!

Ben and Julie by the Missouri River.

Isabel chewing a seashell. That's what they're for, right?

Emanuel's favorite part: playing with blocks in Acorn Acres.